In spite of another injury riddled season, Adam Boqvist broke out of his shell and emerged as a productive puck moving defenseman for the Blue Jackets. Staying healthy for an entire NHL season is the next key step in his development.
One of the key returning pieces in the trade that sent Seth Jones to the Chicago Blackhawks, Boqvist was the 8th overall pick at the 2018 NHL Draft – taken one slot behind Vancouver Canucks star Quinn Hughes. Coming in with really high expectations, Boqvist would spend one post-draft year in the OHL, before turning pro with the Blackhawks in 2019-20.
After two seasons, he was dealt to the Blue Jackets; where he has now spent two full seasons in the NHL. Unfortunately, over those two years, Boqvist has managed to get into only a total of 98 games – seeing both of his seasons cut short due to various injuries. Even so, he made big progress this season, finally breaking out and showing off the skill that landed him in the top-10 of the NHL draft.
BOOM GOES BOQY 💥💥 pic.twitter.com/2BrjKNRZzq
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) February 15, 2023
A strong skater who uses his edgework to create separation, Boqvist loves to jump into the rush and create offense. In fact, when he’s on his game, he plays more like a fourth forward, keeping the puck on his stick for that extra little bit of time before firing off a pass or unleashing his sneaky good shot. He has a high IQ in the offensive zone, and this season it started to pay off.
He had a 23 game stretch through January and February, where he scored 3 goals and 18 points this season. Extrapolate that out and he’s at a 64 point pace over a full 82 game schedule – which would set the franchise record by a full 7 points. Quietly, he was very outstanding for this team, and I think he’s earned the right to at least get a look on the top pairing next season. Though, he and Zach Werenski might not be ideal from a defensive zone standpoint.
There are holes to his game – especially in that defensive zone – but the key here is offsetting those shortcomings with offensive output. You can have a guy like this on your team, as long as you surround him with capable defensive players. Opening up his game and allowing him to free wheel, could give you an elite offensive defenseman.
Final season stats: 46 games played, 5 goals, 19 assists, 24 points, 8 PIMs, -12, 68 shots on goal. Overall grade: B
Look, it wasn’t perfect for Boqvist this year, but I would argue that it was really close, and the only thing I can point to negatively is that he spent so much time on the IR again. Staying healthy is the main key to a big breakout season for him next year – if the team can add a capable veteran who can defend well to play alongside him, I think Boqvist can be a real difference maker for this team.